Is Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) Viable for Corn Cultivation? A Comparative Study among ZBNF, Organic and Chemical Farming in Corn in South India

Two-season field experiments were conducted with the objective of finding the performance of corn hybrid and cultivar under three different farming methods i.e., Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), organic farming (OF), and chemical farming (CF) along with control, in Telangana State, Southern India. The experiment was set up in a Factorial Randomized Block Design with three replications. The hybrid (DHM 117) outperformed the cultivar (Ashwini) in terms of growth, yield, economics, and energetics. Corn plants grew taller with higher dry matter accumulation, yield components (cob length, girth, number of kernels per row, and 100 kernel weight), and yields (kernel and stover) in CF compared to OF and ZBNF. While weed growth was lower and soil moisture was higher in ZBNF compared to OF and CF. The yield loss was significantly higher in the hybrid compared to cultivars in OF and ZBNF compared to CF. The yield of hybrid was only 40% and 18.9% of that CF in OF and ZBNF, respectively. Similarly, the cultivar recorded 67% and 28.8% of the yield of CF in OF and ZBNF, respectively. OF used higher energy input (59094 MJ ha-1) and recorded higher specific energy while the energy output was the maximum with CF. The energy productivity and energy use efficiency were superior with ZBNF compared to that in OF and CF. The gross returns realized in OF and ZBNF could not meet the variable costs of cultivation while the benefit-cost ratio in CF was 1.62 with hybrid and 0.2 with cultivar.